


We Found Love in a Sterile Place

by bestpillowtalkever



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Emergency room, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Hospital, Minor Injuries, Smut, background varchie, description of minor injury, fluffy cuteness, meet cute, the events of one night, zero angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:01:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23874361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestpillowtalkever/pseuds/bestpillowtalkever
Summary: “Dude, check out that girl over there,” Archie whispered, elbowing him with his good arm.“Who?” Jughead looked around the room, noticing a number of interesting characters. “The one throwing up in the plastic bag with a hole in the bottom or the one soaked in urine and yelling at the wall?”“The hot one!” he said, nodding to his left.“The blonde?” he asked, noticing a girl holding paper towels to her hand.“No, her friend! With the dark hair,” he said, trying and failing to look very discreet as he checked her out.OR: Jughead and Betty meet in the ER.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 48
Kudos: 403
Collections: 7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees, Riverdale Bingo Winter 2020





	We Found Love in a Sterile Place

**Author's Note:**

> Another fill for a Riverdale Bingo square! 
> 
> Big thank you to Izzy @bettsplusfive and Ali @alicat-gotyourtongue for beta-ing!!! Also, thank you to everyone who shared their ER experiences so that this could be at least moderately accurate.

“Dude, check out that girl over there,” Archie whispered, elbowing him with his good arm.

“Who?” Jughead looked around the room, noticing a number of interesting characters. “The one throwing up in the plastic bag with a hole in the bottom or the one soaked in urine and yelling at the wall?”

“The hot one!” he said, nodding to his left. 

“The blonde?” he asked, noticing a girl holding paper towels to her hand.

“ _ No,  _ her friend! With the dark hair,” he said, trying and failing to look very discreet as he checked her out.

“She looks…  _ fancy _ ,” he commented.

Both girls did. Their shiny dresses and heels stood out amongst the crowd of people spending their Saturday night in the Emergency Room at Mount Sinai.

The brunette  _ was  _ in fact more Archie’s type now that he was looking at them. But, the blonde was stunning. 

He could already see the scene play out in his head. Archie hits on the girl. Jughead is left to make awkward small talk with the friend who’s way out of his league and has zero interest in him. 

It wouldn’t be the first time.

It wouldn’t even be the  _ twelfth _ time.

Which was saying a lot, considering they’d only known each other for a few months since they became roommates.

“Should we go talk to them?” Archie asked, still looking in their direction. 

“Are you seriously trying to pick up girls in the ER right now?” he asked, though he wasn’t actually surprised. “Are you still drunk?”

“No, I’m not  _ drunk,”  _ he said. “I was just hoping to find someone tonight and I thought I blew it when we had to leave the party, but  _ maybe… _ .” He turned to look at him and bounced his eyebrows. 

He had to laugh. “What’s your pickup line going to be?  _ What horrible catastrophe has brought you to this fine establishment this evening? _ ” 

“Yeah, something like that,” he agreed offhandedly as he stood up. “Okay, lets go.”

“ _ Wait!”  _ he hissed, pulling him back down. 

“ _ Ow!”  _ Archie said, tenderly holding his injured arm.

“Sorry,” he apologized quickly. “But, there aren’t even any open seats over there. What  _ exactly _ are you planning to do?”

“We can just go over and introduce ourselves!” he said as if it were normal to just walk up and start talking to strangers in medical facilities. “I mean, they’re two girls  _ alone  _ in this sketchy emergency room in the middle of the night. I’ll tell them that we’ll keep an eye on them.”

“Keep an  _ eye  _ on them?” he asked. “That’s the creepiest thing you could possibly say. Why would they need you to keep an  _ eye  _ on them? There are literally three security guards.”

“Girls  _ love  _ that, Jughead,” he said with wide eyes, as if this was an obvious fact.

“Yeah, I don’t think they  _ do,  _ bud,” he responded, shaking his head. 

“Only one way to find out,” he said with a wink before getting up from his seat. 

Jughead rolled his eyes before getting up to follow him. As they walked over to the other corner of the waiting room, he braced himself for what was sure to be a cringey exchange that would leave him with raging second-hand embarrassment. 

“Excuse me, miss,” Archie said, kneeling to reach down on the floor in front of the brunette. She and the blonde, who’d been previously lost in conversation, looked over at him. “I think you dropped this.” He held a pen up. 

“Oh, I-“ she started to respond before being interrupted. 

“Boy, what are you doing?” a middle-aged woman on the other side of them asked. “That is not her  _ pen,  _ it was nowhere near her  _ seat,  _ and she does  _ not _ want you  _ bothering her  _ while she’s waiting for medical assistance. So, why don’t you get your little  _ friend  _ and strut your behinds back to your seats over there?”

They both stared in shock as the blonde burst into laughter. The brunette joined her a moment later as the two of them dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“Oh,” Archie said with wide eyes. “I’m… sorry.” 

“Go on. Get!” the woman said, shooting him with her hand. 

This only served to make the girls laugh harder as they walked back in shame. 

“Well,  _ that  _ went great,” Jughead commented after they sat back down. 

“Okay, Plan B,” Archie said, undeterred. 

“ _ Plan B?”  _ Jughead exclaimed. “We were just aggressively shut down and humiliated.”

“Yeah, but not by  _ her,” _ Archie pointed out with raised eyebrows.

“You can’t be serious,” he said, rubbing his face.

“We just need to wait until that lady gets called back and then we take those seats.” He looked back at her appraisingly.

“What if the girls get called back first?” Jughead asked. 

“They won’t,” he said confidently. “Her friend’s injury doesn’t look that bad. The guy that lady is with looks like he’s about to keel over. They’ll definitely call him back first. Do you even know how triage works, Jughead?”

Archie was surprisingly observant and analytical when the possibility of getting laid was on the line. 

“And you really think there’s a chance she’ll be interested after that horrifying interaction?” he asked him.

He didn’t answer because he was too busy making eyes at the girl. She did a little finger wave before turning to whisper to her friend.

This kind of thing really and truly only happened to Archie. 

“Okay, so we just gotta act cool until I can make my move,” he said, brushing his hair back. “How do I look?”

“Adorable,” he responded flatly. 

“Thanks,” he said, turning back to look at the girl.

Jughead rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. 

When his previous roommate moved out to live with his boyfriend, he’d posted on Craigslist looking for someone to sublet to. Archie responded to the ad, saying that he was leaving his small town to pursue a music career and needed a place to live in the city. 

He wasn’t sure what to make of him at first. He certainly wasn’t anyone he would have imagined himself being friends with outside of an amicable roommate relationship. 

But, it turned out they both liked playing the same video games. Then, Archie practically begged him to go out with him his first weekend there. He kind of felt  _ obligated  _ to go to his gigs when he started booking them. And then, of course, he had to invite him along when he met up with his own friends from work.

Before he knew it, Archie was kind of his best friend? They were different in pretty much  _ every  _ conceivable way. But, Archie was kind and loyal and just had good vibes that made him an enjoyable person to be around. 

And so, as much as it  _ pained  _ him, Jughead was willing to go along with his skirt chasing schemes from time to time. 

“Oh, look!  _ She’s leaving! She’s leaving!”  _ he whispered, nudging Jughead roughly. “Quick, before someone else takes their seats!”

Archie bolted over to the other end of the room, sliding into the now vacant seat by the two girls. Jughead followed behind with a little less urgency.

“Well, hello there,” the brunette greeted him with a flutter of her eyelashes. “Back for round two?”

“To start off, I’d like to apologize,” Archie said contritely. Knowing him, he wasn’t bullshittting her. Rarely was he disingenuous. “I know this probably isn’t the place and I hope I wasn’t bothering you when I-“

“Oh,  _ pish posh _ ,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I was once approached by a man in front of the tomb of Pope Sixtus the Fourth at St. Peter’s Basilica. We spent the next two weeks at an AirBnb in Tuscany.  _ Nothing  _ is more sacred than romance. Veronica Lodge,” she finished, extending her hand to him. 

“Archie Andrews.” He awkwardly shook with his left hand. “Sorry, I think my right arm might be broken,” he explained. 

“Oh you poor thing,” she said, reaching out to run her hand down his good arm.

Jughead couldn’t help but notice her friend quickly look away with a subtle roll of her eyes.

Relatable.

“Please tell me what valiant endeavor has caused this injury?” Veronica asked.

Jughead couldn’t help but snort at the question, picturing Archie’s awkward descent from being hung upside down over a beer keg like a teenager. 

“Keg stand gone wrong,” he summarized succinctly with a little blush. 

“Well, aren’t you the party animal?” Veronica commented. 

“Where were you guys?” Archie asked, looking between the two of them. “You look like you’re all dressed up for something.”

The two girls exchanged a  _ look  _ before Veronica responded, “We were at a fraternity semi formal.”

“Oh,” Archie said. “What happened to your dates?”

“We didn’t know them very well and they turned out to be… less  _ gentlemanly  _ than anticipated,” Veronica told him.

“They were assholes,” her friend added flatly. 

“What happened to your hand?” Jughead asked her. 

She had a carefully folded wad of paper towels held to the palm of her left hand. Scenarios suddenly flashed in his mind of possible reasons she may have acquired said injury as a result of the  _ assholes.  _

“Oh, I,” she closed her eyes and gave a quiet laugh.”I decided to make some consolatory guacamole when we got back to our apartment and I cut myself while slicing a lime. Turns out champagne and cutlery don’t mix.”

“She actually finished making it with one hand, so we’d have a snack while we wait here,” Veronica said. She pulled a bag of tortilla chips and a tupperware from her fancy leather bag.

“You guys can have some,” the friend offered. 

“Oh, I’m good,” Archie said. Jughead figured it was a little too green and mushy for him, since he had the palate of a picky six-year-old.

He looked at the friend with raised eyebrows, trying to figure out how to politely beg her to share with him.

“Veronica, why don’t you switch seats with him?” she suggested, nodding in his direction. “I know you’re not going to eat any of this while you’re…  _ occupied.” _

“Oh, of course. If that’s okay with you?” Veronica asked him. 

“Yeah, sure,” he said, getting up. She handed over their food and he had to admit, his night was really looking up.

“Thank you,” he said to the friend as he sat down. “I’m sorry, uh… I don’t know that I caught your name?”

“Betty,” she told him. “And you are?”

“Jughead,” he said.

“Jughead,” she repeated with a nod as if he had a completely normal name. “Would you mind opening the chips? I don’t think I can with my-“

“Oh! Yeah,” he said, opening the bag as well as the tupperware. He settled the chips between them and held the guacamole on the armrest so it would be accessible with her good hand.

They were both quiet as they started eating. Her guac was amazing. Really, she got it just right. Lots of cilantro. Just the right amount of lime. Not too oniony. He tried not to look like a heathen as he shoveled it into his mouth. 

“This is so good,” he said through a mouthful. 

“Mm, I know,” she agreed, rolling her eyes as she ate 

She was hot, he decided. He knew she was objectively beautiful from the moment he looked at her, but something about her unabashedly enjoying her food was just really  _ hot.  _

She looked at him and he realized he was staring, so he cleared his throat and quickly looked away. “So, uh… what happened with those guys tonight?” he asked.

“Oh,” she said letting out an annoyed huff. “This frat guy’s been trying to get V to go out with him for a while now. He finally convinced her to come to their formal and his  _ friend  _ needed a date and…” she waved her hand as if to suggest it was a situation similar to the one they were in. 

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Jughead said, digging out another chip. 

“So, anyway, I didn’t really know either of them going into it. They turned out to be the douchiest dudebros with no redeeming qualities. My date, his name was  _ Jordan,  _ got super drunk and kept trying to get me to go back to his apartment. I declined  _ obviously  _ and told him that I don’t have sex on the first date. I mean, I wouldn’t have sex on  _ any  _ date with him, but that’s beside the point. So, he tells me that he’ll use a condom, so it’s not  _ actually _ sex since there won’t be any  _ ‘skin to skin contact.’  _ Like, what?! That was when I told V that we needed to leave.”

“ _ What _ ?” he asked in surprise. “He thought you would actually  _ buy _ that?” 

“I guess?” she said with a shrug. “The worst part is that he’s already gotten into  _ med school.  _ He’s going to be someone’s  _ physician  _ one day. Ugh, I hate it.” She dug aggressively into the bag for more chips. “So, how was your night, Jughead?”

She turned to look at him with interest and it made his heart skip. 

This wasn’t how it worked. 

She was supposed to be annoyed to be stuck with him. Put off by his moody vibes and his raggedy flannel and his old hat. She wasn’t the type of girl who was  _ nice  _ to him.

“ _ Oh,  _ uh…,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. He felt like a middle schooler being this nervous to talk to a girl. “It was good.”  _ Wow. Real interesting _ . “Archie took me to a party. It was at some guy’s house who plays bass in his band.”

“Oh, that’s cool!” she said. “Are they any good?”

“Ah… ya know, they’re not exactly  _ my  _ type of music, but you’d probably like them,” he told her. “ _ Girls  _ seem to like them.”

“Because of the music or because of…” She waved her hand in the direction of Archie, who was laughing at something Veronica said with his hand resting on her knee.

“Both,” Jughead conceded with a nod.

She shot him a smile and she was so beautiful, he couldn’t help but return it. 

“So, uh… how’s your hand?” he asked. 

She looked down and peeled back the paper towel that was now almost soaked through with blood. Her palm had a good slice in it through it. She opened her hand wider and the skin split apart, showing how deep it was.

She took a sharp breath and quickly pressed the paper towel back to her hand. 

“I should probably go clean it,” she said, looking pale.

“I’ll come with you,” he said as he put the lid on her tupperware. He didn’t really want to be left behind with the lovebirds.

“Oh, that’s okay, I’ll be fine,” she told him. 

“Are you sure?” he asked with a cocked eyebrow. “It’s going to be awkward trying to do everything with one hand.”

“I mean….” She glanced over at the other two who were lost in conversation. “I guess, yeah. You can come.”

He rolled up the chip bag and followed her over. They joined a line of people waiting to get into the few single stall bathrooms.

“I hadn’t realized it would be this busy,” she said, looking around the crowded room. 

“Yeah, this is pretty typical for a weekend,” he told her.

“Not your first rodeo?” she asked with a little smile. 

“No, actually I-“

“What’s a girl like you doing with this schlub?” a man blurted out as he got in line behind them. His words were slurred and he reeked of alcohol.

He had to admit, it  _ was  _ a legitimate question. 

“He has a  _ huge  _ penis,” Betty shot back before Jughead even had the chance to think of a response.

Well, that was absolutely the last thing he’d expected to come out of her mouth.

The man barked out a laugh and said, “You kids sure are something else these days!”

She turned back to Jughead and gave a shrug, looking like she was trying to suppress a smile.

She really  _ was _ something else.

“So, uh, what were you saying about having done this before?” she prompted.

“Oh, yeah.” He shook his head and thought,  _ Get it together, Jughead.  _ “I’ve lived in the city for a few years now, so I’ve been lucky enough to make more than one late night trip to this ER. It’s always a mess on the weekends.”

“How old are you?” she asked.

“Twenty-three,” he told her. “You?”

“Twenty-one,” she answered. “Are you in school or do you have a job or…?”

“I install and repair elevators by day. Write for a literary magazine by night,” he told her. 

“When do you sleep?” she asked a little teasingly. 

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” he responded, making her laugh. “What about you? I’m guessing you’re in college since you’re going out with frat boys?”

“Yeah, I’m actually in my last semester of undergrad,” she told him. “Psychology major. I’ll have a few more years of grad school, though.”

“Are you doing that around here?” he asked.

“CUNY Brooklyn,” she said. 

“Oh, cool,” he said, trying not to sound too happy with the fact that she wasn’t leaving town any time soon. Why should it matter to him? It’s not like he had a  _ chance  _ with her or anything. 

Just then, a bathroom door opened and he realized they were next in line. He jumped ahead to hold it for her.

“Thank you,” she said as she went in. 

They went to the sink and he turned it on, twisting the knobs until the water was warm. He washed his own hands before saying, “Here, let me see.”

She extended her hand and he ran it under the faucet for a few moments. The clear water turned pink as it ran down the drain. Squirting some antibacterial soap in his hand, he diluted it with water before cleaning her palm. She hissed at the contact.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I know it hurts.”

”It’s okay.” She winced, flexing her hand, before adding, “You seem to know what you’re doing.”

“I’ve seen a lot of injuries in my line of work,” he told her. “We tend to take care of them ourselves on the job with a couple of napkins and some duct tape.”

She laughed as he pulled her hand from the water and gently patted it dry. He folded up some fresh paper towels for her to keep on her palm.

When he looked up at her, she seemed almost surprised before closing her mouth and looking down at her hand. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

“No problem,” he muttered before clearing his throat. They were close and the air was thick and  _ damn,  _ she was really pretty. “Well, here, let me get this for you,” he said, opening the door for her to exit. 

==

“I have a sister who goes by Jellybean. I’m a former gang member. I got a GED because I didn’t finish high school,” he said, trying to remain as neutral as possible.

“Hmm… well, since you go by Jughead, having Jellybean for a sister isn’t outside the realm of possibility. Out of the other two, I’d say… the gang one is the lie. You’re a lover, not a fighter,” she said before taking a sip of the Pepsi he’d gotten her from the vending machine.

“Nope,” he told her with a grin of victory. “Of course I finished high school! How could you think that of me?!” he exclaimed in mock offense.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she responded with a big smile. “Hey,  _ you _ thought I’d gotten into a knife fight over an ice cream cone.”

“I saw you eyeing up that guy's milkshake over there!” he said in his defense. “I’m  _ still  _ not sure if that one was actually a lie.”

“Where do you think he got that from?” Archie asked, interrupting their game of Two Truths and a Lie.

“The milkshake? From the food court, probably,” he told him. 

“I think I’m gonna make a trip,” he announced as he stood up. “I’m starving and I need to go for a walk.”

“What if they call you back while you’re gone?” Betty asked him. 

“We’ve already been here for three  _ hours _ , what are the chances they ask for me in the next ten minutes? And if they do, Jughead can tell them I’ll be right back. Care to join me?” he said to Veronica. “Fries are on the house.”

“You spoil me, Archie Andrews,” she said, accepting his good hand to help her up. “You’ll be okay here, Betty love?”

“Yeah, of course,” she responded with a nod. “You kids have fun.”

They went on their way, leaving him alone with Betty. Well, not  _ alone  _ alone, since they were in a crowded waiting room, but he still felt a shift due to their sort of  _ aloneness. _

The whole night was going  _ surprisingly  _ well. Of all the friends Jughead had been stuck entertaining for Archie, Betty was by far the best. He had a feeling he’d be thinking about this night long after it ended. 

“So, um, tell me more about the gang thing, then,” she asked. “Was it like a Crips versus Bloods kind of thing? Did you wear coordinated bandanas?”

He laughed and said, “No, not really. More of a motorcycle type gang that I think used to be a bigger deal. By the time I was old enough to join, it’d kind of dwindled down and they didn’t really do much of anything. My dad ran it for a while, which is the only reason I got involved.”

“Oh,” she said, nodding and taking it in. “I’ve lived an exceptionally sheltered life, so that’s kind of fascinating to me.”

“Hmm… shall I regale you with ridiculous stories of little Jughead being haphazardly raised by a couple of gang members?”

“Elizabeth Cooper!” a nurse came out to announce to the room. 

“ _ Shit,”  _ she muttered under her breath as she scrambled to collect her things. “Here!” she shouted to get the nurse’s attention. 

He handed her her purse before tossing her empty soda can in the recycling.

“Anyone coming back with you?” he heard the nurse ask Betty as she approached her.

“Oh, I….” She shot him a nervous glance before turning back to the nurse. “I think it’s just-“

“I’ll come with you,” he said as he came to stand beside her.

She looked at him uncertainly. “Shouldn’t you wait for your friend?”

He shrugged. “He’s got Veronica.”

“Okay,” she said, looking a little surprised before turning to the nurse. “Just the two of us, then.”

The nurse led them back to a small room. He gave Betty a hand getting up on the exam table before sitting in the chair beside her. 

The nurse double checked her personal information before taking her temperature and blood pressure and examining her hand. 

It felt weirdly intimate. He wasn’t touching her or particularly close to her or seeing her naked or anything. It just wasn’t the sort of thing that you did with a random person you’ve only known for a few hours. 

“Alright, Miss Cooper,” the nurse said as she headed out the door. “It’ll just be a little longer before someone comes in to stitch you up, okay?”

“Thank you,” Betty said before she picked up her phone. “Oh, V texted. She said they’re back in the waiting room and she’d be happy to switch with you if you wanna go back out with Archie.”

“Oh,” he responded, unsure of what to say. It was stupid how much he wanted to stay with her. But, he was self aware enough to recognize that she probably didn’t feel the same way. “I mean, I’m fine either way. Don’t want to get in the way of their… whatever they’re doing. But, if you’d rather have your friend with you, then-“

“ _ No,”  _ she said suddenly. “I mean, I don’t mind having you stay. I wouldn’t want to interrupt their mating ritual either.”

“Okay,” he said with a nod.

“Okay. Should we… play another game to pass the time?” she asked slowly. She leaned on her good hand and swung her (amazing) legs back and forth in the most tantalizing way.

What a night it was turning out to be. 

“Yeah, sure,” he said. He’d probably have agreed to anything she proposed at that point. 

“Truth or Dare?” she asked with a bounce of her eyebrows.

“It  _ is _ Saturday night, I guess.” He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his legs. “Start me out with a truth.”

She leveled her gaze at him and asked very seriously, “Did you break Archie’s arm?”

The question made him laugh. “Not that I’ve never  _ wanted  _ to, but I was an innocent bystander in this case. He should  _ not  _ have trusted two wasted guys to hold him up for a keg stand, that’s all I’m gonna say about it.”

She nodded with a small smile. “Sounds about right.”

“Truth or dare?” he asked her, not sure what he’d say for either.

“Truth.”.

He had to think for a minute. “Why are you friends with Veronica?” he asked, since it was something he’d been curious about. “She doesn’t seem like your…  _ type _ .” 

She smiled, which was good, because he was hoping she wouldn’t be offended by the question. “I was also...  _ wary _ of Veronica when I first met her. We were roommates our freshman year and we’ve been best friends ever since. She’s very… genuine. She cares a lot about her friends. And, she’s really fun! It’s always an adventure with V and I’m not particularly  _ bold _ on my own.”

“You did tell that guy that I have a huge penis,” he reminded her. “I’d say that was pretty bold.”

She laughed and conceded, “Okay, so maybe she’s rubbing off on me. I just mean, I… don’t really put myself out there. She’s the one who gets invited to parties and asked on dates. I tag along and end up being the consolation prize in situations like this,” she said with a shrug. “Which is fine. I have fun with her.”

He looked at her with narrowed eyes. “How are  _ you  _ a consolation prize?”

She smiled. “It’s  _ your  _ turn. Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” he said, leaning back to cross his arms. 

He was admittedly still stuck on the  _ consolation prize  _ comment.  _ How was she a consolation prize?? _

She bit her bottom lip and tilted her head to the side. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“I don’t,” he told her. The fact that  _ that  _ was a question she cared to know the answer to had him holding back a smile. “Truth or dare?”

“ _ Dare _ ,” she said with a challenging tone.

“Hm…,” he had to think before he came up with something. “You said earlier that you used to tap dance when you were younger?”

“ _ No,” _ she said with her eyes going wide. “Don’t you dare!”

He nodded. “Dance for me, Betty.”

She exhaled a breath of resignation. “ _ Fine.” _

She slid off the table and turned to face him. She looked like she was about to start, then bent forward and laughed as she covered her face. “I can’t!” she whined.

“I mean you don’t  _ have  _ to,” he told her. “But I would personally love to see it. And I think we both need to respect the sanctity of Truth or Dare.”

“Okay, okay,” she said as she shook her beet red face. She started dancing and the rhythm of her tapping feet filled the silent room. “Ta da,” she said as she finished with a little bow. 

It was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. He clapped and cheered, “Encore! Do it again!”

“Nooo,” she said, climbing back up onto the exam table. “The show’s over. Your turn.”

“Fine. Give me a dare.”

“Um… well, you’re a writer,” she said. “Tell me a story.”

“Oh  _ god _ , uh… about anything in particular?” he asked, hoping for some direction. 

“Nope,” she said. “Dealer’s choice.”

“Okay, uh….” He scrambled to think of something on the fly, but was drawing a blank. “There once was a girl named…” 

“Nancy,” she supplied. 

“Yes, Nancy,” he said with a nod. “One night Nancy decided that she was going to make the world’s best guacamole.”

“Oh, I hope she doesn’t cut herself!” Betty interjected. 

“Okay,  _ spoiler alert!” _ Jughead responded, making her laugh. “Unfortunately, Nancy  _ did  _ cut herself and her friend…”

“Valentina.”

“Her friend Valentina brought her to the hospital,” he continued. 

“Ooh, were there any cute boys there?” she asked. 

“Well, I don’t know how  _ cute  _ they were,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“I bet they were really cute,” she assured him as she nodded.

He laughed and continued, “Okay, so they met two  _ really cute  _ boys. One boy hit on Valentina, but was comedically interrupted by a concerned bystander.”

Betty laughed, saying,”Oh, I totally forgot about that!”

“But, the boy remained undaunted and he valiantly made a second, significantly more successful attempt to win her attention. So, that left Nancy with the  _ other  _ boy. His name was…”

“Jitterbug,” she said immediately.

“Yes, _ obviously  _ his name was Jitterbug. So, Nancy and Jitterbug started talking and it turned out they got along really well. Like,  _ shockingly  _ well. Because Jitterbug was not the kind of guy that most people warmed up to right away.”

“I bet Nancy would find that hard to believe,” Betty commented. 

“Yeah, that’s because Nancy was really nice. And for  _ some reason _ Nancy was under the impression that she was a  _ consolation prize?  _ Which, I’m sorry if this would be offensive to Nancy, is so  _ fucking  _ stupid because she was honestly the prettiest girl that boy had ever seen.”

He looked over at Betty, who quickly looked down with a little smile and a blush. 

“Anyway, even though both of their nights started out a little rough, they ended up having a lot of fun together,” he finished. 

“Is that it?” she asked, looking over at him. “What happens next?”

“What do you mean? They had fun. That’s the happy ending.”

“You can’t just end there! You’re totally missing the best part,” she said, seeming genuinely concerned.

“What do you mean?” he asked, not really sure what she was getting at.

“Jughead, are they going to kiss?!” she asked challengingly. 

The air was charged and he felt his face grow hot and was she really insinuating that she wanted him to kiss her??

Since his knee-jerk reaction was defensive self-deprecation, he said, “Unfortunately Nancy was well out of Jitterbug’s league.”

Her face fell and they were interrupted by a knock on the door. His stomach turned as he started second guessing his comment and wondering if she’d taken it the wrong way. 

“Miss Cooper,” the nurse said as she entered with a cart of instruments. 

“Yes?” she asked.

“The doctor will be here in a bit. I’m just going to clean your cut and get you prepped for your stitches, alright?”

“Yes, that sounds great. Thank you,” she said politely. 

The nurse pushed her cart next to the exam table and began to wipe down Betty’s hand with some gauze and cleaning solution. She hissed and shut her eyes, tightly clenching her other hand into a fist.

As if involuntarily, he reached out to take her hand in his. The nurse noticed and said, “You can sit next to her if you want.”

They looked at each other and she gave a noncommittal shrug which he took to mean,  _ you can if you want.  _

He hopped up next to her and wrapped her hand in his, lacing their fingers together. She gave a little squeeze and shot him a grateful look. 

The door opened and the doctor entered. She introduced herself and asked Betty a few questions about her wound and the incident as she washed her hands and put on gloves. 

The doctor traded places with the nurse and started the procedure with a shot to numb her hand. Betty squeezed his hand tightly and turned to press her forehead against his shoulder. 

She stayed like that throughout the stitching as Jughead watched with some degree of fascination. “It’s kind of cool,” he told her. “You should just look for a second.”

“No thanks,” she mumbled weakly into his arm. “I’m good.”

Her situation was unfortunate. He hated that she was uncomfortable. But, he admittedly kind of loved having her pressed so close against him. 

He rubbed his thumb against hers and whispered, “You’re doing great,” into her hair. “It’s almost over.”

It wasn’t until the doctor was finished and her hand was wrapped in a bandage that Betty finally looked up and thanked her before she left.

She kept holding onto his hand as the nurse gave the discharge information. Jughead took the papers and stuffed them into her bag. She didn’t say much as they were led back out into the waiting room from whence they came.

“Oh, I guess I should figure out where Veronica is,” she said, finally releasing his hand to search for her phone. 

“Actually, Archie texted a few minutes ago and said he was just called back,” he told her.

“Are you serious?” she asked. “I can’t believe they’ve been waiting that long.” She looked down at her phone for a minute before smiling. “Well, it sounds like they’re making the most of their night. V said not to worry about her and that she’s fine staying with Archie. Typical.”

Jughead’s first thought was that Betty shouldn’t be going home alone and it was kind of shitty of her friend not to worry about that. He didn’t say that to her, though. 

“Well, let me help you get home,” he offered. “It’s really late for you to be out by yourself.”

“It’s actually almost morning,” she said. “And, I was thinking… I mean, you’ve been really great this whole night and I’d love to thank you in some way. Maybe I could treat you to breakfast?” she asked a little shyly. 

He smiled. “I think that’s a great idea.”

==

They sat on a bench and watched the sun rise over the Hudson Bay as they ate breakfast sandwiches from his favorite food truck.

The orange glow slowly illuminated the sky as she let her head fall to rest on his shoulder. He’d given her his jacket after they left the hospital, and he wondered if the deranged people out for early morning jogs assumed that she was his girlfriend. 

He really hoped they did.

“This night has been a wild ride from start to finish,” he said. It was almost hard to believe that he was at Archie’s lame party only a few hours ago. It felt like a different life.

“And it’s not even over yet,” she said quietly.

“I guess it’s not,” he agreed, wondering what else could possibly happen at this point.

“I’m glad your friend hit on my friend,” she said before taking the last bite of her sandwich. 

He took a deep breath as his heart swelled.

“For the first time  _ ever,  _ I’d have to agree with you,” he told her. “Usually I get stuck in the most awkward situations thanks to him. This has been… surprisingly enjoyable.”

“I hope we hang out again after this,” she said.

“If you want to, then we definitely will,” he told her.

“I’m not out of your league, you know,” she said suddenly. “I mean, I don’t know if that was just an excuse because you’re not interested and that’s a nice way to-“

“ _ Betty,”  _ he interrupted before giving a breathy laugh. “It’s true and it’s not an excuse for  _ anything.  _ If you disagree… well, I have to tell you that you’re wrong, but you won’t hear me complain about it.”

“Yeah?” she asked, turning to look at him.

“Yeah,” he repeated breathlessly.

This was it, right? When he was supposed to kiss her? Their faces were inches apart and she was wearing his jacket and the sun was rising and they’d just kind of admitted that they liked each other. 

He wanted so much to just  _ do it,  _ but he was suddenly gripped with panic and self doubt. He had to turn away because he was the world’s biggest idiot. 

“ _ Shit,”  _ she said quietly, taking a deep breath. “I just realized I don’t have my keys.”

“You can come back to my place?” he offered, before balking at the implication. “I just mean, I’m sure you’re as tired as I am. Maybe even  _ more  _ tired. So, you’re more than welcome to come crash on the couch for a few hours. Or, I mean, you can have my bed and I’ll take the couch. Unless you’d feel more comfortable on the couch, in which case-“

“ _ Yes, _ Jughead,” she said with a smile. “I’d love to go back to your place.”

“Okay, cool,” he responded with a nod. “Well, I guess we should get going, then. It’s almost a half hour to my apartment from here.”

“Okay.” She got up and reached for his hand. “Let’s go.”

They held hands as they walked to the subway and sat with their bodies pressed together the whole way to Brooklyn. Her head fell to his shoulder once more, and she melted against his side as she fell asleep. 

He felt like the luckiest motherfucker on the R train. 

When they were approaching his stop, he whispered for her to wake up and she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

“Sorry,” she apologized for no reason at all. 

“How’s your hand?” he asked. “Do you want to get painkillers now or after you get some sleep?”

“Sleep first,” she said. “I’m still feeling the ones they gave me at the hospital.”

“Okay.” He stood up and held out a hand for her. She took it and he led her out of the subway and down the few blocks to his building. 

They went up to his apartment and he was suddenly grateful that Archie always made a big deal of cleaning up before going out (in case he ever brought a girl back). He mentally apologized for all the times he gave him a hard time about it.

“Well, let me get you something to change into,” he said, retrieving a t-shirt and shorts from his dresser. He turned around and realized she’d followed him into his room. 

He suddenly felt wide awake. She  _ looked  _ wide awake as she took his clothes from him and asked, “Would you mind helping me out of my dress?”

“Uh…  _ yup,” _ he responded as she turned around. He slowly pulled the zipper down. She lifted her hand to her shoulder, pulling the dress down and letting it fall to the floor. 

She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. “Thanks,” she said, moving to put on his shirt. 

“ _ Wait,”  _ he said, putting a hand on her bare waist. 

He’d missed his moment in the hospital room. He’d missed his moment watching the sunrise. 

She kept putting herself out there and he was  _ not  _ going to be the idiot who missed out on  _ her _ . 

Her skin was hot beneath his hand. “Is this okay?” he asked, barely above a whisper. 

“Yeah,” she said with a small nod. 

He stepped forward so that his body was pressed against hers and couldn’t contain the urge to drop a kiss to her shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t kiss you earlier,” he said in her ear. 

“Why didn’t you?” she asked, turning to face him.

“Because I’m an idiot.”

“Well, are you done being an idiot?” she asked teasingly.

He smiled before  _ finally  _ pulling her into a kiss. She brought her hand to the back of his neck as he slid his around her waist. He moved his lips against hers and she slowly pushed him back until his legs hit the bed. He sat down and she climbed on top of him. 

He was still in all his clothes. She was just in her lacy bra and panties. It was  _ really  _ turning him on.

He let his hands roam her body as they made out. She pulled off his hat and ran her fingers through his hair with her good hand. Their bodies moved in tandem as her hips rocked against his and he couldn’t believe this was actually  _ happening.  _

She started trying to unbutton his flannel and he yanked it over his head along with his shirt underneath. She pushed him back on the bed before latching her mouth onto the skin beneath his ear. As she kissed her way around his neck and down his chest, he wondered if this might actually be the best night of his entire fucking life. 

She kissed all the way down to the tops of his jeans and began undoing the button and zipper. He helped her pull them off before flipping her over so that she was the one laying on the bed. 

“You’re injured,” he reminded her. “I can’t let you do all the work.”

“I’m all yours,” she said in his ear. 

He sat up to look her over for a moment and couldn’t believe how stunning she was. 

“So pretty,” he said, running his fingers along the nude lace of her bra.

“My boobs or the lingerie?” she asked with a smirk. 

“Both. Everything,” he said.

“I had a hot date tonight,” she said with a shrug.

He smiled, remembering how her night started. “I thought you don’t have sex on the first date?”

“I mean, I typically don’t, but you should always be prepared. You never know who’s gonna talk their way into your pants,” she said with a bounce of her eyebrows. 

He laughed at that. “I did  _ nothing  _ of the sort,” he assured her.

“Not intentionally,” she said before pulling him down to kiss her. 

He shifted so that he was on top of her, with one of his legs between hers. They resumed making out as he let his hand drift up her side to her breast. She gave a light moan and started to move her hips against his thigh. 

He moved his mouth down as he pulled the straps of her bra off her shoulders. She slid her hand up and popped it open with a sneaky clasp in the front. He was going to comment on it, but was distracted by her exposed chest.

This was all truly unreal.

As he let his hands and mouth explore her breasts, he could feel her wet panties against his leg. She rolled her hips harder against him, begging “Jughead,  _ please.” _

Well, hearing her say his name like  _ that  _ was the best thing to happen to him this lifetime.

“Oh,  _ shit,” _ he said, quickly sitting up. “I don’t have any condoms!”

The only time he’d had sex before was in a  _ friends with benefits  _ situation and that was years ago. He’d never thought to keep condoms in his room, because he never imagined he’d find himself in a situation such as this.

“Archie?” she asked, being the brilliant person she was.

“ _ Yes,”  _ he said emphatically, pressing a hard kiss to her forehead before storming into the next bedroom. 

Luckily he kept his condoms in the most obvious location (his end table drawer). He grabbed a few and went back into his own bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. 

She’d removed her bra completely and was lounging back on the bed in just her panties. She looked so out of place in his raggedy little room. 

He never wanted her to leave. 

“Are you sure you want to do this with me?” he asked a little skeptically as he stood at the foot of the bed. It was just a little hard for him to believe.

Instead of answering, she sat up on her knees and beckoned him forward with a wiggle of her finger.

Who was he to deny her?

He tossed the condoms on the bed and climbed up to kneel in front of her. She pulled him by the back of the neck to resume kissing before letting her hand drift to his boxers. She ran her fingers back and forth under the elastic in the most tantalizing way. 

“Are you ready?” she asked against his lips.

“ _ Yeah,”  _ he said, nodding. “Lay down.”

“I can get on top if you want?” she suggested. 

Was it  _ that  _ obvious that he was nervous and inexperienced? 

“It might be better for me to be on top,” he told her. “With your hand.”

“Oh, yeah. I kind of forgot about that,” she said, looking down at it. 

She pressed a kiss against his lips before scooting back and laying on the bed. He started to pull her panties off, then suddenly stopped to ask, “Is this okay?”

“It would be kind of hard to do it with them on,” she said with a smirk. “But, thank you for asking.”

He smiled as he pulled them off the rest of the way. After taking off his own boxers, he rolled a condom on and looked over to find her watching him. The teasing was gone from her eyes and she bit her lip when she realized he’d caught her staring. 

He climbed over her and kissed her as he reached down to touch her. She was soaking wet and he quickly got her worked up again. “ _ Stop teasing me,”  _ she whined.

“Sorry,” he said in her ear, not feeling very sorry at all. He lined them up and slowly pressed into her.

The look on her face and sounds that she made would be permanently etched into his memory. He hoped desperately that this wouldn’t be their only time together. 

It took a few minutes to get into a rhythm, which was definitely more his fault than hers. It suddenly went from feeling really good to feeling  _ too  _ good. 

He sat up a bit to look down at her  _ that  _ certainly didn’t help. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and tried to keep his impending orgasm at bay. 

When he opened them again, she was totally lost in the moment beneath him. Her head was thrown to the side and her breathing was ragged. 

“Betty,” he said between breaths. “I’m gonna come.”

“ _ Nooo,  _ no, no, no, no, no, no,” she said quickly. “A few more minutes.”

“I’ll  _ try,”  _ he told her, trying to recall as much New York City building code as he could remember. 

_ Where four or more elevator cars serve all or the same portion of a building, the elevators shall be located in at least two separate hoistways. Not more than four elevator cars shall be located in any single hoistway enclosure. Elevators that service different risers shall be located in separate... _

He sat up straight and held her hip with one hand, bringing the other to her clit to try and push her over the edge.

_ Where an elevator is installed in a single blind hoistway or on the outside of a building, there shall be installed in the blind portion of the hoistway or blank face of the building, an emergency door in accordance with… _

“Oh,  _ god,  _ Jughead,” she moaned, bringing a hand to her breast. “Keep going. Keep  _ going.” _

_ In buildings five stories in height or more, at least one elevator shall provide access to all... _

“ _ Betty,”  _ he said warningly as he snapped his hips into hers.

“That’s it, right  _ there _ ,” she said before  _ mercifully  _ falling apart beneath him. He immediately let go and came inside her. 

He slowed and stopped, falling on top of her but still trying to hold his weight up.

She wrapped her hands around his head and stroked his hair. “Well, that was really good, Jughead,” she said as she caught her breath. “With a little practice, I think we may really have something here.”

He laughed against her collarbone before dropping a kiss there. “So, you’re saying this isn’t a one time thing?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Oh! I mean, I… I hope not?” she said, sounding unsure.

“Thank  _ god,”  _ he said, feeling relieved. “I will try to make sure our next date does not include a visit to the hospital.” 

“We can only hope,” she said softly.

When he pulled away, she had a big smile on her face. He couldn’t help but kiss her again. 

He got up to dispose of his condom, throwing on his boxers before heading to the bathroom with a spring in his step.

“Jughead?” he heard from the kitchen, making him jump out of his skin.

“When did  _ you  _ get home?” he asked as Archie walked over to him, his arm now in a sling.

“Oh, I just-  _ What is that?”  _ he asked with wide eyes, staring at the condom in his hand. “Who is  _ in there?” _

“Betty,  _ obviously,”  _ he whispered. “Do you really think I met another girl since leaving the hospital?”

“ _ Dude!  _ She’s really hot!” Archie mouthed enthusiastically. He proudly put his hand on Jughead’s shoulder, making him shift away from him. It felt weird when he was pretty naked and holding a used condom. 

Archie followed him to the bathroom as he continued to gush about how impressed he was and how happy he was for him. “Dude, can we maybe, ah… do this another time?” Jughead asked when they returned to his bedroom door.

“Yeah, man. We’ll have to talk after she leaves. Best of luck with everything. Do you have any questions about how to handle things after you wake up? Or-“

“I  _ got it,  _ Archie,” he said before slipping back into his room and closing the door behind him. 

Betty was fast asleep in nothing but the t-shirt he’d been wearing under his flannel. He smiled before climbing into bed and curling up next to her. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tumble with me @bugheadsextape :)


End file.
